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Saturday, 12 March 2011

First Butterfly

Did not know where to go this morning-the warm southerlies have been producing the first migrant Wheatears and Sand Martins, and it was about time to listen out for Chiffchaffs. In the end I went to Amwell and did not see any of these.
The warm sunshine was tempered by a southerly which at times seemed a bit chilly. I had missed a Green Sandpiper, but the first of the sites Redshank had appeared and was very mobile-it had been here for a couple of days but had yet to settle. One Little Egret was present, and the Cormorants and Herons seemed busy in the nesting trees.
Lots of raptors today-several Sparrowhawk and Kestrel with at least 8 Buzzards in the air at one point. A nice bonus while counting them was seeing the two local Ravens-they are usually only seen very early and very late in the day.
Other bonus birds were my first Grey Wagtail and Treecreeper for the year.
On the way back to the car I encountered my first Brimstone butterfly.

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About Me

Have been interested in all aspects of natural history-not just birds, all my life. For many years astronomy took up a lot of my spare time-I helped found the Letchworth and District Astronomical Society and spent twenty years on the committee before standing down in 2005.
These days I enjoy photographing birds, butterflies, dragonflies and landscapes with my Nikon D2x and lenses including a 300mm vr and 500 F4P.
I now (April 2011) have a Nikon D3s, and I am also partial to Zeiss lenses, owning a 35mm F2 and a 100mm F2 macro.